Oral Vaccination of White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)

Wildlife reservoirs of Mycobacterium bovis represent serious obstacles to the eradication of tuberculosis from livestock, particularly cattle. In Michigan, USA tuberculous white-tailed deer transmit M. bovis to other deer and cattle. One approach in dealing with this wildlife reservoir is to vaccinate deer, thus interfering with the intraspecies and interspecies transmission cycles. Thirty-three white-tailed deer were assigned to one of two groups; oral vaccination with 1×10⁸ colony-forming units of M. bovis BCG Danish (n = 17); and non-vaccinated (n = 16). One hundred eleven days after vaccination deer were infected intratonsilarly with 300 colony-forming units of virulent M. bovis. At examination, 150 days after challenge, BCG vaccinated deer had fewer gross and microscopic lesions, fewer tissues from which M. bovis could be isolated, and fewer late stage granulomas with extensive liquefactive necrosis. Fewer lesions, especially those of a highly necrotic nature should decrease the potential for dissemination of M. bovis within the host and transmission to other susceptible hosts.     

Teaching cardiac electrophysiology modeling to undergraduate students: laboratory exercises and GPU programming for the study of arrhythmias and spiral wave dynamics

As part of a 3-wk intersession workshop funded by a National Science Foundation Expeditions in Computing award, 15 undergraduate students from the City University of New York(1) collaborated on a study aimed at characterizing the voltage dynamics and arrhythmogenic behavior of cardiac cells for a broad range of physiologically relevant conditions using an in silico model. The primary goal of the workshop was to cultivate student interest in computational modeling and analysis of complex systems by introducing them through lectures and laboratory activities to current research in cardiac modeling and by engaging them in a hands-on research experience. The success of the workshop lay in the exposure of the students to active researchers and experts in their fields, the use of hands-on activities to communicate important concepts, active engagement of the students in research, and explanations of the significance of results as the students generated them. The workshop content addressed how spiral waves of electrical activity are initiated in the heart and how different parameter values affect the dynamics of these reentrant waves. Spiral waves are clinically associated with tachycardia, when the waves remain stable, and with fibrillation, when the waves exhibit breakup. All in silico experiments were conducted by simulating a mathematical model of cardiac cells on graphics processing units instead of the standard central processing units of desktop computers. This approach decreased the run time for each simulation to almost real time, thereby allowing the students to quickly analyze and characterize the simulated arrhythmias. Results from these simulations, as well as some of the background and methodology taught during the workshop, is presented in this article along with the programming code and the explanations of simulation results in an effort to allow other teachers and students to perform their own demonstrations, simulations, and studies.     

Pseudomonas sp. to Sphingobium indicum: a journey of microbial degradation and bioremediation of Hexachlorocyclohexane

The unusual process of production of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and extensive use of technical HCH and lindane has created a very serious problem of HCH contamination. While the use of technical HCH and lindane has been banned all over the world, India still continues producing lindane. Bacteria, especially Sphingomonads have been isolated that can degrade HCH isomers. Among all the bacterial strains isolated so far, Sphingobium indicum B90A that was isolated from HCH treated rhizosphere soil appears to have a better potential for HCH degradation. This conclusion is based on studies on the organization of lin genes and degradation ability of B90A. This strain perhaps can be used for HCH decontamination through bioaugmentation.     

The rejoining of double-strand breaks in DNA by human cell extracts.

A double-strand DNA break was introduced at a specific site within the lacZ gene of plasmid pUC18 using one of several restriction enzymes, and the plasmid exposed to nuclear extracts from human cell lines. Physical rejoining of DNA was monitored by Southern analysis after gel separation, and the fidelity of rejoining by expression of the lacZ gene after bacterial transformation with the treated plasmid. Breaks at the SalI and EcoRI sites were rejoined by extracts to form circular monomers, but the efficiency of rejoining was much higher at the SalI site. Measurement of rejoining at several adjacent sites having different types of termini, consistently showed a range of efficiencies with 5' 4-base greater than 3' 4-base overhangs and 4-base greater than 2-base greater than no overhang. Similar efficiencies were found for nuclear extracts from transformed cell lines, both from a 'normal' individual and an ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) patient, and from a non-transformed normal cell culture. In contrast at some sites, especially those with a low rejoin efficiency, the fidelity of rejoining was very much lower for the A-T extracts than for normal cell extracts. Mis-rejoining was, however, unrelated to rejoin efficiency at other sites, suggesting that factors such as the exact sequence at the break site on the molecule may also influence the fidelity of rejoining.     

Phytoglobin-NO cycle and AOX pathway play a role in anaerobic germination and growth of deepwater rice

An important and interesting feature of rice is that it can germinate under anoxic conditions. Though several biochemical adaptive mechanisms play an important role in the anaerobic germination of rice but the role of phytoglobin-nitric oxide cycle and alternative oxidase pathway is not known, therefore in this study we investigated the role of these pathways in anaerobic germination. Under anoxic conditions, deepwater rice germinated much higher and rapidly than aerobic condition and the anaerobic germination and growth were much higher in the presence of nitrite. The addition of nitrite stimulated NR activity and NO production. Important components of phytoglobin-NO cycle such as methaemoglobin reductase activity, expression of Phytoglobin1, NIA1 were elevated under anaerobic conditions in the presence of nitrite. The operation of phytoglobin-NO cycle also enhanced anaerobic ATP generation, LDH, ADH activities and in parallel ethylene levels were also enhanced. Interestingly nitrite suppressed the ROS production and lipid peroxidation. The reduction of ROS was accompanied by enhanced expression of mitochondrial alternative oxidase protein and its capacity. Application of AOX inhibitor SHAM inhibited the anoxic growth mediated by nitrite. In addition, nitrite improved the submergence tolerance of seedlings. Our study revealed that nitrite driven phytoglobin-NO cycle and AOX are crucial players in anaerobic germination and growth of deepwater rice.     

Mutation in Brca2 stimulates error-prone homology-directed repair of DNA double-strand breaks occurring between repeated sequences

Mutation of BRCA2 causes familial early onset breast and ovarian cancer. BRCA2 has been suggested to be important for the maintenance of genome integrity and to have a role in DNA repair by homology- directed double-strand break (DSB) repair. By studying the repair of a specific induced chromosomal DSB we show that loss of Brca2 leads to a substantial increase in error-prone repair by homology-directed single-strand annealing and a reduction in DSB repair by conservative gene conversion. These data demonstrate that loss of Brca2 causes misrepair of chromosomal DSBs occurring between repeated sequences by stimulating use of an error-prone homologous recombination pathway. Furthermore, loss of Brca2 causes a large increase in genome-wide error-prone repair of both spontaneous DNA damage and mitomycin C-induced DNA cross-links at the expense of error-free repair by sister chromatid recombination. This provides insight into the mechanisms that induce genome instability in tumour cells lacking BRCA2.     

More Evidence on the Impact of India's Conditional Cash Transfer Program,Janani Suraksha Yojana: Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of the Effects on Childhood Immunization and Other Reproductive and Child Health Outcomes

Background

In 2005, India established a conditional cash transfer program called Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), to increase institutional delivery and encourage the use of reproductive and child health-related services.

Objective

To assess the effect of maternal receipt of financial assistance from JSY on childhood immunizations, post-partum care, breastfeeding practices, and care-seeking behaviors.

Methods

We use data from the latest district-level household survey (2007–2008) to conduct a propensity score matching analysis with logistic regression. We conduct the analyses at the national level as well as separately across groups of states classified as high-focus and non-high-focus. We carry out several sensitivity analyses including a subgroup analysis stratified by possession of an immunization card.

Results

Receipt of financial assistance from JSY led to an increase in immunization rates ranging from 3.1 (95%CI 2.2–4.0) percentage points for one dose of polio vaccine to 9.1 (95%CI 7.5–10.7) percentage points in the proportion of fully vaccinated children. Our findings also indicate JSY led to increased post-partum check-up rates and healthy early breastfeeding practices around the time of childbirth. No effect of JSY was found on exclusive breastfeeding practices and care-seeking behaviors. Effect sizes were consistently larger in states identified as being a key focus for the program. In an analysis stratified by possession of an immunization card, there was little to no effect of JSY among those with vaccination cards, while the effect size was much larger than the base case results for those missing vaccination cards, across nearly all immunization outcomes.

Conclusions

Early results suggest the JSY program led to a significant increase in childhood immunization rates and some healthy reproductive health behaviors, but the structuring of financial incentives to pregnant women and health workers warrants further review. Causal interpretation of our results relies on the assumption that propensity scores balance unobservable characteristics.     

Alleviation of cold stress in inoculated wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum L</Emphasis>.) seedlings with psychrotolerant Pseudomonads from NW Himalayas

Twelve psychrotolerant Pseudomonad strains were selected on the basis of various plant growth-promoting (PGP) activities at cold temperature (4°C). The effect of inoculation with Pseudomonad strains on cold alleviation and growth of wheat seedling at cold temperature (8°C) was investigated under greenhouse condition. Inoculation with Pseudomonad strains significantly enhanced root/shoot biomass and nutrients uptake as compared to non-bacterized control at 60 days of plant growth. Bacterization significantly improved the level of cellular metabolites like chlorophyll, anthocyanin, free proline, total phenolics, starch content, physiologically available iron, proteins, and amino acids that are sign of alleviation of cold stress in wheat plants. Increased relative water content, reduced membrane injury (electrolyte leakage), and Na⁺/K⁺ ratio were also recorded in bacterized wheat plants. Electrolyte leakage and Na⁺/K⁺ were found inversely proportional to plant growth at cold temperature. Statistical analysis of twenty-three measured parameters revealed that uninoculated control was under cold stress while eight bacterial strains were positively alleviating cold stress in wheat plants. Thus, the psychrotrophic Pseudomonad strains could effectively provide a promising solution to overcome cold stress, which is major factor hindering wheat productivity under cold climatic condition.